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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014656">Similarly Marked</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHeartForStories/pseuds/AHeartForStories'>AHeartForStories</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AHeartForStories' Whumptober 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Branding, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Whump, Hiccup Whump, Hurt Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Race To The Edge, Whump, Whumptober 2020, eret whump, how to train your dragon 2 - Freeform, httyd 2, rtte, slight eretcup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:26:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHeartForStories/pseuds/AHeartForStories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Whumptober Day 14. Post-Httyd 2. Eret comes over in the evening to have his measurements taken for his dragon armor. A small misunderstanding leads to Hiccup being reminded of the scar on Eret's chest. It looks awfully familiar to him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Astrid &amp; Fishlegs &amp; Hiccup &amp; Ruffnut &amp; Snotlout &amp; Tuffnut, Eret &amp; Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III &amp; Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III &amp; Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AHeartForStories' Whumptober 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Similarly Marked</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>That moment when you write a summary, but it's, like, for the second, much smaller, scene.<br/>Written for the prompt: "Branding"<br/>Kinda.</p><p>Constructive criticism is appreciated!<br/>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is still engraved into the front of his mind, the indescribable pain as a branding iron sears someone's mark into his flesh, the smell of his skin burning away. His throat is still raw from the screaming he's done. He's also not quite rid of the trembles he's been feeling, his body weak, hours after the fact.</p><p>Hiccup supposes that it's only natural after today's events, after what's been done to him. Honestly, the worst part was returning to the Dragon Riders and show them the mark he now bears with shame.</p><p>They reel with shock and understandably so. Their leader and friend now essentially belonged to someone and that they didn't know who only worsened the blow.</p><p>Because that mark, that wasn't the mark of the Dragon Hunters. It represents someone else entirely, someone they haven't seen before. But in order for the Hunters to be able to use this mark, they would need to be working together and close enough that the person or group this tribal symbol belongs would allow them to use it.</p><p>That means that, whoever Hiccup now belongs to, they can only be bad.</p><p>And that means they <em>have </em>to do something about it.</p><p>The hunters who put it there didn't manage to capture him and that means there is still a chance they can reject this claim of ownership. But with a brand, the price of freedom means suffering through even more pain than he already has.</p><p>Hiccup is sitting in the clubhouse with the other Riders and Toothless, whose head is resting on his lap. They are quiet as they let the shock of this news sink in.</p><p>The brand is there for all to see, right on the side of Hiccup's throat.</p><p>It was supposed to be on his face, that's where the hunter had originally aimed the iron at, but struggling had caused it to land on his throat instead. It didn't save him from any pain, but it did save him from having that angry red mark of ownership on his face.</p><p>Still, his armor and tunic are off. The pain has been radiating and that makes his skin in the surrounding area sensitive to the slightest of touches. He can't stand any clothing on his upper body.</p><p>They're all staring at it, at the brand seared into Hiccup's neck. They're all angry at it and they want it gone, but no amount of glaring and hating will make it go away.</p><p>But Astrid is standing before him. She cups his face and he leans into it, knowing what's about to happen next and dreading it.</p><p>They all want it gone. Not just because they don't want to look at it a second longer, but also for Hiccup's sake.</p><p>The Dragon Hunters who put it there are dead, another thing they have in their favor. But should the mark be revealed to any more Hunters, say during a battle that is very likely to happen soon, they could tell Viggo and Viggo would use this as an excuse to wage war on Berk. Because Hiccup belongs to someone and someone is being denied their property.</p><p>Clothing, while a good option to hide the mark, is painfully temporary.</p><p>But removing it entirely will be painful and nobody is looking forward to it. Not Hiccup, who will be at the receiving end of the removal, and not Astrid, who will be the one to do it.</p><p>"I'm really sorry." She tells him ahead of time, her heart breaking and her stomach dropping.</p><p>"You have nothing to be sorry for, I should've listened. I'm the one who should be sorry." Hiccup refuses her apology on the grounds of it being his own fault. Or he feels like it is.</p><p>"You being sorry should mean you're the one to blame. And I don't remember you specifically asking to be branded. Or doing anything that means you deserve to be." Snotlout growls at him, at the mark. Whenever Hiccup screws up, he'll be the first person to rub it in his face and rub it for hours. But he can't bring himself to with something like this.</p><p>Hiccup looks tired and defeated. He hates it.</p><p>"So are we going to do it or what?" Ruffnut asks the group. It's not like she wants Hiccup to be hurt, but the sooner that brand is gone, the sooner Hiccup can recover, and the sooner this looming threat has been taken care of.</p><p>It'll still be there in some way, this detailed symbol will only be replaced with a bigger and redder patch of damage, but at least Viggo can't make any claims if he can't prove that a brand used to be there.</p><p>So she's itching to have it gone. She wants to go ahead with it.</p><p>"We'll get to it, Ruff, don't worry. It's just... Are you ready?" Astrid originally addresses one of the twins, but then she turns her attention back to Hiccup. They are the closest to the fire burning calmly in the middle of the room. She tries to ignore the sword whose blade rests in the fire. During the silence, they've been letting it heat up.</p><p>"I'm not, but the sooner we get this over with..." Hiccup doesn't look at her, at his would-be brander, and that doesn't sit well with her.</p><p>The original plan was for Hiccup to do it himself as he didn't want to put his friends through this, but she'd offered to be the one to do it and she didn't take "no" for an answer. She would not let Hiccup hurt himself for pride and freedom when she could harden her heart and do it herself.</p><p>"Can-can you guys le-leave?" Hiccup stutters his request as what is about to happen sinks in and he looks at his friends. They listen as they get up to make their way out, but they're doing so reluctantly. They don't want to leave Hiccup like this, but they also understand that he doesn't want them here for it. They shouldn't see this.</p><p>Hiccup turns his attention to Toothless next, who lifts his head as he senses his Rider has something to say.</p><p>"You leave, too, Bud. I don't want you to see this." He tells him, holding his face by his jaw, but Toothless pulls away, straightens, and then puts on his angriest "human" face, an expression that is supposed to imitate how humans look angry, much different from how a dragon does it.</p><p>"Toothless, come on. Now's not the time to be stubborn." Hiccup tells him, but the dragon lifts a foot and puts it down with a yip.</p><p>"I think that's him saying he's not going anywhere. And if something like this had to be done to Stormfly, I wouldn't want to leave either." Astrid sides with Toothless on this. They can't force him to get out of the clubhouse if he doesn't want to.</p><p>Hiccup sighs in defeat and pets his best friend, his brother by heart and soul, on the head. Of course, he wouldn't leave. Hiccup wouldn't leave him either.</p><p>"It might get ugly. You know that, right?" He asks and Toothless licks his hand before he lies back down again and replaces his head on Hiccup's lap. He can't get in the way like this and he'll still get to support his human.</p><p>"I think he knows," Astrid says what Toothless is without a doubt thinking. Hiccup looks up at her, the first time he's done so since she forced her offer on him.</p><p>"Are you ready?"</p><p>"Again, no..."</p><p>"Then let me rephrase it differently. Do you want me to go ahead with it? Right now?" Astrid rephrases her question and Hiccup looks down at Toothless.</p><p>"Yeah, do it." Hiccup tells her, stroking the top of Toothless' head and letting his hands glide over his scales and spines, hoping that it will comfort him.</p><p>It doesn't. Not enough.</p><p>His eyes are starting to water in dreadful anticipation and he hopes Astrid can't see it. The sound of the sword being pulled out of the fire reaches his ears and he flinches already, too tense.</p><p>Astrid holds it and stares at the redhot blade. She's trembling now and not because the weapon is too heavy for her. Her heart is pounding in her ears. She doesn't want to do this, she really doesn't, it's wrong on so many levels.</p><p>He's her leader, her superior, but more importantly, he's her best friend. He's the one she has feelings for, but whether as a friend or something else entirely, she hasn't figured out yet.</p><p>Bottom line is, she doesn't want to do this, but she wants him to do this to himself even less.</p><p>Grabbing the sword with both hands, she takes a step closer to Hiccup and brings it even closer. Hiccup is usually good at keeping his cool, but his shaking as he can already feel the heat isn't lost on her.</p><p>She hates this. She hates this so much.</p><p>"I'll-I'll try to be quick." She tells him, but he doesn't respond. He's too busy bracing himself for what's to come.</p><p>Astrid takes the blade closer to the hottest part, to have more control.</p><p>"I'll try to leave as little damage as I can."</p><p>"Please, just do it. Before it cools too much and we have to wait again." Hiccup tells her and she does as she's being told.</p><p>Grabbing his shoulder and leaning down, she gives it a squeeze before laying her hand on the back of his head, her fingers buried in his hair. She pulls, but she doesn't have to pull hard as Hiccup follows and exposes his neck to her.</p><p>She doesn't remove her hand or even lessen her hold. In the very likely scenario that Hiccup is going to fight her the second the hot metal touches his skin, she needs some way to keep him from pulling away, as horrible as that is.</p><p>She takes a deep breath. She's not the one about to go through an excruciating removal process and still she needs a moment.</p><p>"Astrid, just do it. Now, please!" But Hiccup can't take the waiting and so she forces herself to make a move, before the metal cools too much.</p><p>Tightening her grip on his hair, she pushes the blade into his skin, ensuring that the brand is completely covered, and she holds it there.</p><p>The pain is immediate. The brand itself was already still pulling and stinging with the slightest breeze and now it burns even fiercer than it did when it was placed. The surrounding skin, sensitive as it is, swelters and melts beneath the hot blade.</p><p>Hiccup's shivering worsens instantly and the tears that have been gathering come down his face. His hands are fists and it's taking him everything not to grab hold of a fistful of Toothless in pure agony. His teeth are clenched and if he had the mind to, he would fear breaking them.</p><p>He wants to stay strong. As his skin burns and the smell of burning flesh embeds itself in his nostrils some more, he wants to stray strong. As the brand burns brightest of all...</p><p>But he can't. Failing both Toothless and Astrid, it takes him mere seconds to give in to the want to scream, though he's held out surprisingly long even then.</p><p>Astrid flinches and Toothless whines, but the former doesn't stop. She can't, she knows that if she does stop and she hasn't done a good enough job, she would need to do this a second time and she just can't do that to him.</p><p>He tries to pull away because of course, he would want this to stop, but Astrid tightens her hold some more and forces him to stay in place. It's the hardest thing she's ever had to do and she hopes nothing will ever come close.</p><p>"Stop. Stop!" His hands come up from Toothless' head, but they don't know which to grab. Go for the hand holding his head in place or the one holding the sword?</p><p>Astrid begins to cry as well and she finds herself thinking how she hasn't started crying earlier.</p><p>"Stop! Astrid, please, stop!" The others can probably hear him screaming at the top of his lungs and Astrid is certain she will be hearing them in her nightmares.</p><p>"ASTRID, STOP!" She finally lets go, but whether it's because enough time has passed or because Hiccup grabbed both of her hands and tore out of her hold, they don't know.</p><p>The chair he was sitting on is knocked over in the action and Hiccup ends up falling to the floor. Toothless is by him instantly, lying flat and placing a paw over his Rider. He purs comfortingly, nosing his hair.</p><p>Panting heavily, Astrid glances at the sword and drops it immediately, as if it's something vile now. Not the safest thing to do with a wooden floor, but she can't help herself.</p><p>"Fff-fuck. Fuck." He lets out a rare f-bomb as he lies on the floor, hands wanting to go for the injury, but not daring to actually touch it.</p><p>Forcing her heavy body to move, Astrid reaches for one of the buckets of lukewarm water they'd readied for this. Toothless pulls away to make room and she kneels and aims. Careful not to get any of that water in his mouth and nose, she pours it gently over his neck. To save as much water as she can and to make sure the stream isn't too rough on him.</p><p>The new wound is definitely bigger, but the water distorts its shape. She can see it, however, and that's more than enough.</p><p>She did that to him. It was with good intention, but she still did it. She hurt him and a sob leaves.</p><p>The bucket runs empty much quicker than she would've liked and she goes for the second one.</p><p>This isn't going to be easy. Burns are always difficult to treat properly, the chances of infection, especially with a burn so deep, is always enormous. And then there is the matter of telling Stoick and how.</p><p>The door to the clubhouse opens and the other Riders dare themselves inside. The worst part is over, now they want to help treat it.</p><p>Hiccup passes out soon after, the experience too much for him.</p><hr/><p>When Hiccup asks him to come over in the evening, Eret is at least a little bit nervous to come by for a visit. Hiccup has that effect on him. His Chief, as he calls him, Eret has never been more comfortable with anybody else in his life but him, and yet at the same time, he feels so strangely nervous when they're alone. Nervous in a good way.</p><p>Hiccup has asked him to come over earlier that day to have his measurements taken and that's why he's here now, just shy of opening the door.</p><p>The Chief, he's quite the inventor. When he first landed on Berk, it didn't take Eret long to find that out. The troughs of water above every Viking home, the dragon wash, the strange stables, Hiccup's left his mark all over the village and it's made everyone's life easier.</p><p>He understands why Hiccup is held in such high regard. It's not just that he's their hero in trying times, but he's also the one solving all of their problems. In the last nine months, Eret's admiration and respect for him has only grown.</p><p>Blowing out a lungful of air, Eret knocks on the door and soon receives a muffled "come in!" from the other side. Opening it up, he can see Hiccup standing near a table while Toothless lies by the fire.</p><p>"Ah, Eret, there you are!" Hiccup greets him, smiling, and Toothless rumbles a hello of his own without even lifting his head, much too comfortable on the floor.</p><p>Eret nods their way, gaze falling on the measuring lint on the table.</p><p>Hiccup has had the bright idea to create armor based on their individual dragons. His Dragon Riders having such little protection during battle has bothered him more than it used to and he's finally putting an end to that. And as the plan is to use the shed scales of their dragons, chances are they might even be fireproof.</p><p>The twins only reluctantly agreed because of their armor's cool design.</p><p>According to Astrid, the passing of Late-Chief Stoick the Vast has something to do with Hiccup's want to suddenly control what his Riders wear during their battles. It's something all the Riders think and it's the biggest reason they're listening to Hiccup's wishes, stubborn as they are.</p><p>Closing the door and walking further into the room, passing Toothless, Eret reaches his Chief.</p><p>"So what do you want me to..." He asks, wondering what exactly Hiccup wants him to do.</p><p>"Well, if I want to take the correct measurements, I'm going to need you to take that off." Hiccup tells him, gesturing broadly at the furs he's wearing.</p><p>"Okay," But Eret misunderstands, believing Hiccup is asking him to take it all off instead of just his furs, and with his back then turned, Hiccup can't tell him otherwise.</p><p>By the time he turns back to Eret, measuring lint in hand, his furs are off and his tunics are nearly off as well.</p><p>"Oh Eret, I just meant the furs!" Hiccup quickly stops him, hands up, and a smile on his face.</p><p>"Oh! I see." A feeling of embarrassment wells up.</p><p>"Completely my fault, I should've been more clear." The other tells him, realizing that his instructions must've been unclear. He needs Eret to wear his tunic as the armor will be worn above at least one layer of clothing and that means Hiccup needs to measure him with his clothes on.</p><p>"Well, just so you know, I'm always ready to strip." Attempting to cure his embarrassment with some hilarity, Eret makes a joke, causing Hiccup to laugh.</p><p>"So you are!" His laughter is something the new Rider finds himself enjoying.</p><p>But then Hiccup suddenly stills, his gaze falling on the blemish on the other's chest. When Eret notices what he's looking at, he, too, grows silent.</p><p>The air in the room grows tense then. Hiccup brings a hand up to it, but he doesn't touch it. His hand simply hovers there instead.</p><p>"I bet that must've hurt a lot."</p><p>Eret looks away, hand covering the brand. Drago may be dead, but that doesn't take away any of the trauma that still clings to it.</p><p>Knowing that he's gone makes him feel only a little safer. Having Hiccup here helps as well, surprising as that may seem to those who don't know him.</p><p>Hiccup stares at Eret, seeing the broken look on his face. He understands the pain that a brand brings very well, the physical, the mental, and the emotional.</p><p>But what he can hardly imagine is carrying that brand and not being able to escape. That must've been his reality before Drago met his demise, to serve a cruel man knowing he can never escape, the threat of punishment, or even death looming above his head every day.</p><p>Hiccup's heart aches for him. He's safe now, but that doesn't erase what's been done to him.</p><p>But maybe there's something he can do about it. He might not be able to make it better, but maybe he can at least tell him that he's not alone. Or rather, show him he's not alone.</p><p>Hiccup nods to himself, reaffirming that that is what he's going to do.</p><p>"Let me show you something." Eret looks back at him when he says that.</p><p>Hiccup draws away from him and removes his armbraces, leaving both of them on the table nearby before taking off his chest piece. It'll be the first time he's seen him without his armor on and Eret feels like he needs to hold his breath.</p><p>But he quickly sees what Hiccup intends to show him. On the side of his throat, there is a nasty, nasty looking scar and he points towards it.</p><p>He's always known that there is something there, he could always see just a bit peeking out from the collar, but now he has a full view of it and it makes him cringe. That couldn't have been pleasant and it's not old either.</p><p>"This... is from a brand, too." Hiccup drags out his first word of that sentence. It is difficult for him to talk about and the only reason he's bringing it up now is for Eret.</p><p>Eret is overcome with surprise.</p><p>"Ah-Astrid removed it before anything could come of it. The person who put it there is dead and so are the people who were there to see it, so no one was alive to tell anybody about it. Which means nobody got to claim that I... belonged to someone." It is difficult, much too difficult. Hiccup is breathing hard, memories of the branding, and the removal of said brand coming back in horrible waves.</p><p>Even though it was to help him and he knows this, he didn't let Astrid touch him for weeks. It made her feel terrible and that is something he regrets enormously. Fortunately, it ended up not causing a rift between them, but it almost had.</p><p>"Do you know who it belonged to?" Eret inquires. Hiccup nods, but he needs a moment before he can say it.</p><p>"Drago." So he says and watches the new Rider's face change from horrible surprise to utter shock.</p><p>"I didn't know until we met and I saw the exact same brand on you." He hadn't thought much of it at the time either, much too focused on getting Stormfly free the four of them out of that sticky situation.</p><p>"I can't imagine how terrifying that must've been." He really can't. When he got branded, as horrible as it was, he at least knew who he belonged to. Hiccup couldn't say the same thing, not until he'd already gone through the trouble of getting rid of it before this mystery person could make their claim.</p><p>"But he's gone now. And he never got his hands on me and he can no longer get his hands on you. After everything that's happened, after all the pain this thing still causes me, I can't be more grateful than I already am." But even despite this dark conversation, this confession, and the fact that he's now shaking a little, Hiccup still smiles as he talks and Eret is stumped.</p><p>He already knew he had Hiccup all wrong. When they first met each other, Hiccup seemed like a naive boy who was much too good for this world. A heart too big for a world so small-minded. Someone who somehow saw something in the dragons that Eret previously thought wasn't there, but someone that he saw as needing to be protected from Drago's cruelty. It was why he tried to stop Astrid from talking about Hiccup in front of the madman.</p><p>Because even though they were on opposing sides, Eret didn't want him hurt. Far from that.</p><p>But then Hiccup lost his father and Eret thought for a moment that was it. Drago was a man who left his opponents destroyed. Physically, mentally, emotionally, didn't matter so long as they were defeated and couldn't oppose Drago any longer.</p><p>Eret has seen it happen too many times to not expect the same thing to happen to Hiccup. His father had been murdered trying to protect him and his best friend had been used as a weapon, anyone would've been broken by this.</p><p>But that isn't what happened. Instead, Hiccup gathered whatever strength he still had left, traveled back to Berk, and finally beat Drago, something so many before him had failed to do. That alone, that show of strength, the reassurance that Eret could count on him, his kindness, all of that was what made Eret want to come live on Berk and follow him as his Chief.</p><p>The bonus of getting to ride dragons helped, too.</p><p>And tonight, he realizes he has Hiccup wrong again. Young as he is, positive as his mindset is, he is no stranger to strive. And yet, he told him about his brand and then lightened the mood with a simple smile and a few encouraging words.</p><p>"You really aren't what I expected. I've been living on Berk for months now and you still surprise me." Eret says, leaning on a nearby chair.</p><p>"Oh, I won't stop surprising you for at least the next few years. If I haven't come up with a bunch of new surprises by then." Hiccup tells him ahead of time, nodding, and Eret chuckles.</p><p>"I look forward to every one of them."</p><p>They let it sit for a moment as it's a really nice one, but Hiccup inevitably has to decide that they better get to what Eret's come all this way for in the first place.</p><p>"Come on, let's get to measuring."</p>
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